Man, a weeklong trip to Seattle and a few days of furious dissertation writing have killed my pace. And this is what I come back with! I'd never knowingly heard a Lady Gaga song, and she just reached a certain level of mainstream acclaim that I felt like I should probably hear an album or two just for reference. Plus, who knows, maybe I'll actually like it (see: Justin Timberlake).
First the good. I really like some of the skwonky synths on this, and some of the songs actually have some heart to them. Poker Face makes emotion mysteriously crystallize when the backing noises hit each other, and even Boys Boys Boys is strangely affecting in its desperation, in a Boys in Girls in America kind of way. I'm sure I'm giving it too much credit, but I kind of like it. Brown Eyes is just a straight up good song, everything coming together nicely, gelling into a Self-esque pop gem.
But at the end of the day I can't get past the persona, which just seems too designed, and never really commits to an actual personality, point of view or feeling. There's an effort to be Peaches-nasty, but its really watered down. There's an effort to be Madonna-trashy, but even thats watered down. Its all forced, and half-heartedly, it's edgy enough to be titillating to teenage girls, but not so edgy it upsets their parents. Which is exactly the wrong amount of edgy.
Musicwise its thumpy and dancy, but actually a lot more interesting and a lot less predictable than you might expect (though it is, no surprise, hyper produced). The real problem is I just can't get past the sleekly-designed personality on display. I've heard that Lady Gaga simultaneously revels in the trappings of fame, while criticizing their superficiality. That must be on a later album, this one just meekly gestures in those directions for effect 2.5/5
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